About 700 people gathered in central Kolkata on Wednesday to protest the arrest of civil rights activists, lawyers and writers.. Students from various colleges, students’ wing of many Left parties and Dalit organisations took part in the rally, which started from the Subodh Mullick Square and ended in Esplanade, two km away. Members of a few mainstream parties also joined the protest.
The rally was organised by the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights [APDR], a Kolkata-based civil rights body. APDR members condemned the arrests carried out on Tuesday and demanded the unconditional release of all political prisoners who were arrested over the last few years. The rights body described the arrests as “a spontaneous public protest on war against the people.” An eminent doctor from the city, Punyabrata Goon, who worked with one of the arrested lawyers, Sudha Bharadwaj, said that she had nothing to do with the Maoists.
“For sure, Sudha has absolutely no connection with the Maoists. These arrests are conducted to create rule of terror,” said Dr. Goon.
A large number of students, civil society members and rights groups were seen carrying posters and placards. Nearly all the posters demanded the “immediate release” of those arrested on Tuesday, and those who were arrested earlier like civil rights activists Rona Wilson, lawyer Surendra Gadling, activists Sudhir Dhawale and Mahesh Raut and teacher Soma Sen. They also demanded the release of ailing Delhi University professor, G.N. Saibaba.
“I think such arrests will not reduce but increase in the run-up to the 2019 election as the Government has under-performed for last five years, [and thus] it will try to shut people’s voices to win the poll,” said journalist Biswajit Roy. Singer Susmit Bose performed a protest song, We shall overcome.